STRICTLY BUSINESS: U.S. GAMBLING SCENE OFFERS MIND-BOGGLING FIGURES, STATISTICS

Want some mind-boggling figures?

Look at what's happening on the United States gambling scene.

Casino gambling annually attracts more than 125 million visitors to tables and slots in the U.S.

About 15 million of those visitors boarded gambling riverboats in Illinois in 1995, and again in 1996.

Riverboat casinos and American Indian gambling halls have resulted in increases in attendance and casino revenues, which more than doubled from the $8.3 billion in 1990 to more than $16 billion in 1995.

Attendance has almost doubled since 1992. In 1995, at least one member of 32 percent of all U.S. households in the U.S. visited a casino.

The nation's attitudes about gambling are loosening up. A 1995 survey said 92 percent of those polled called casino gambling acceptable, up from 86 a year earlier.

A recent survey, by the Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P, for the American Gaming Association, has revealed some other statistics concerning the casino industry.

329,000 employees

Nationally, the gambling industry employs more than 329,000 employees, up more than 16 percent over the past 20 months.

The lion's share of employees are in Nevada, where the state's casinos employ over 190,000 in the industry. New Jersey, the second leading state in the gambling industry, employs over 45,000, and third on the list is Mississippi, with 31,788 employees.

Missouri is sixth on the list of gambling industry employees, with more than 12,000, behind Louisiana, with 14,000.

Illinois and Indiana each have about 10,000 employees.

In Missouri the findings of the survey reveal that jobs at the state's riverboat casinos are leading to a better quality of life for the employees.

A total of 10,748 of the state's 12,148 gambling industry jobs were surveyed.

Some of the results:

-- 69 percent of employees developed new job skills.

-- 57 percent of employees have better health care.

-- 52 percent of employees worry less about making ends meet.

-- 28 percent have better access to day care for children.

-- 11 percent of the employees no longer receive unemployment, and 7 percent of employees were able to get off of welfare.

Some more figures

Casino employees have purchased 2,182 homes, 8,134 cars, and 6,798 major home appliances.

More than 8,000 employees donated to community service projects, more than $1.2 million.

3,500 employees volunteers more than 40,000 hours a month to local charities.

And last, but not least, the survey indicated that the average casino wage, nationally, was $26,000. That compares to the average of $20,000 in other amusement and recreation sectors and $16,000 average in the hotel/motel industry.

The survey, which was released last week, includes the responses of 178,000 employees for the eight largest casino gambling states.

Metropolitan look

The Casino Center is taking on a metropolitan look in Tunica County, Miss.

The new Gold Strike Hotel, a 31-story, 317-foot tall structure, is taking shape at the strip. The building will be the tallest in Mississippi and will include 1,200 rooms, including 100 suites.

A new 800-seat, theater-style showroom which will feature Vegas-style entertainment, is also under construction, along with an addition to the Horseshoe Hotel complex.

The center is the site of three gambling casinos -- Gold Strike, formerly Circus-Circus, Horseshoe and Sheraton casinos. Located nearby is the Grand Casino, which includes two large hotel complexes.

A few miles0 south, at the Casino Strip Resort, a new nine-story hotel and 1,000 space parking garage have already been constructed at Sam's Town.

Two more casino and hotel operations at the Strip are Hollywood and Harrah's.

By the end of this year, Tunica County, Miss., which boasts a population of less than 10,000 (8,160, according to the 1990 census), could be in competition with nearby downtown Memphis, Tenn., for a share of convention and hotel business .

More than 5,000 rooms

Check some statistics:

Memphis, a city of more than a million population, located on the Mississippi River, features more than 130,000 square feet of meeting space, and 2,100 rooms in the downtown area. Those totals are expected to increase to more than 200,000 square feet by the summer of 1999.

Meanwhile, Tunica County, home to nine Las Vegas-style gambling casinos, is expected to have 5,800 hotel rooms and 204,000 square feet of space for meetings, banquets and conventions in place by the end of this year.

The casino area is located about 25 miles south of Memphis and can now be reached by a four-lane highway.

Metropolis: 7,775,000

7,775,000

Count 'em up. That's how many people have passed through the turnstiles of Players Riverboat Casino, which has been cruising (yes, the gambling riverboats still cruise in the Land of Lincoln) out of its Metropolis docking facility since Feb. 23, 1993.

On that initial cruise, 419 visitors paid from $4 to $6 each to take their chances on the casino's slots, blackjack tables, crap tables, roulette wheels and a wheel of fortune.

Three hours later, another 115 joined those already on the boat for the second three-hour cruise.

Things have changed.

Cruises are now on two-hour cycles, admission is free, and Hundreds of people line up every other hour to enter the four-floor, 1,650-passenger riverboat casino.

In some instances, on weekends and holidays, some peoples may be "left" behind.

During the latest month, September, records show that Players Riverboat Casino had an above average month, when more than 167,000 visitors boarded the riverboat, an average of 5,056 a day, which translated into a $566,000 pay check to the City of Metropolis and $1.3 million to the state of Illinois.

The state received more than $14.8 million from the nine operations.

Attendance and revenues

September attendance and revenue for Illinois casinos.

-- Grand Victoria, Elgin,: 301,263, $18,7 million.

-- Harrah's North Star, Joliet: 250,464, $13.4 million.

-- Empress Casino, Joliet: 281,661, $11.3 million.

-- Hollywood Casino, Aurora: 280,213, $12.4 million.

-- Casino Queen, East St. Louis: 274,068, $9.0 million.

-- Par-A-Dice Riverboat, E. Peoria: 209,430, $7.9 million.

-- Alton Belle, Alton: 167,537, $4.7 million.

-- Players Riverboat, Metropolis: 167,078, $6.3 million.

-- Casino Rock Island: 55,041, $1.2 million.

Totals: 1.99 million visitors; $85.9 million.

August attendance (September totals not yet available) and revenue for Missouri casinos:

-- Harrah's North Star, North Kansas City: 355,000, $13.3 million.

-- Riverport Casino Center, $12.3 million -- Players, $6.4 million; Harrah's, 5.9 million.

-- Station Casino K.C., $11.3.

-- Casino St. Charles: 428,000, $9.1 million.

-- Argosy, Riverside: 257,000, $5.4 million.

-- Admiral, St. Louis: 263,000, $5.7 million.

-- Hilton Flamingo, $3.8 million

-- Sam's Town, Kansas City: 213,000, $3.5 million.

-- Casino Aztar, Caruthersville: 54,000, $2 million.

-- Frontier Casino, St. Joseph: 61,000, $1.5 million.

Totals: 1.6 million visitors, $67.98 million.

B. Ray Owen is business editor for the Southeast Missourian.